Bee careful of The Swarms in NYC

New York City’s honeybees are swarming so much, they’ve become a fright fit for horror movies.

“It hasn’t even started yet,” said Anthony Planakis, the police officer who for 18 years has been charged with removing the hair-raising clusters. “Within the next week, we’re going to be bombarded again.”

This spring, Planakis has been called to 30 swarms, as clouds of bees choose buildings, light poles and fire hydrants as their temporary homes.

Experts say the city’s obsession with rooftop beekeeping will only bring more apiary emergencies.

Bees swarm instinctively as part of their annual life cycle — or when a hive is suffering from disease, neglect or overcrowding.

Credit: Cryptozoology Online

Beekeeping was legalized in the city again in 2012. In 1999 then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani banned exotic pets, including scorpions, cheetahs, elephants and honeybees. Now, the bees seem to be doing exceptionally well but causing a hazard to human habitation. It’s not some scary portent of doom that the bees are prevalent and swarming. It’s unnaturally natural.